Jacksonville nightclub closes; Plush was scene of repeated violence

A Jacksonville nightclub with a dark history of violence has closed over insurance issues.

Plush, an entertainment complex that includes the Leopard Lounge and Waltz on University Boulevard North, closed Saturday. The space will no longer be used as a nightclub, said Seth Rothstein, an attorney for Town and Country Shopping Centers, the owner of the property.

“They are going to look for new tenants,” Rothstein said. “They are not looking for another nightclub.”

Rothstein said the property owners wanted more insurance on the club that has continuously renewed its lease since the first one was signed in 2001.

“We said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to have more,’ ” he said.

The current lease that was to expire in 2018 stipulated the property owners could ask for more than the $2 million required under that agreement.

Rothstein said the two could not settle on the issue after Town and Country filed a lawsuit in October. On Jan. 14 a judge signed off on a settlement between them that gave Plush until May 1 to close. The order gave the club time to fulfill entertainment contracts and other obligations, Rothstein said.

Plush, operated by 845 North, which reflects the address of the club, has had a history of violence, including a shooting that left three people wounded Feb. 17.

Past cases there include four people wounded in September, a 2011 case of a woman shooting her husband and a 2009 police-involved shooting.

The entertainment complex including Plush and a club there called Lava ranked first among the most violent in a Times-Union study of gun-related trouble between 2007 and 2009, a period that saw 31 incidents at the complex. Included in the cases were weapons arrests and shootings.

Rothstein said the agreement to terminate the lease ended amicably and the tenants have until May 20 to vacate.

Great observations from you "personally". So where do you fit in w/ the white/black women and the /white/black men.

So you are trying to document as fact that black people go to 'white' clubs and the stupid 'white' girls fall for the black "thugs' who then [filtered word] off the white men (who seem to be perfect in your world) who stop going to said nightclub, further making the needs of police presence while the (assuming) black people shoot each other.

Political correctness aside, here's what I have personally observed at several clubs in the Jax area. Whether out of ignorance, or preference, or desperation as profits plummet for whatever reason(s), a club that once had a higher percentage of whites begins to play more hip hop and rap. This attracts a younger and "darker" crowd. A higher number of white women who prefer to date black men begin to attend. White women who don't prefer to date black men stop going. Many white men stop going because they sense that fewer women patrons are interested in them, or maybe because they just don't prefer rap/hip hop. Put another way,as the percentage and numbers of black patrons increases, white flight occurs much like it sometimes does in neighborhoods. It becomes self perpetuating. And, while the large majority of patrons just wanna have fun, sadly, more thugs begin to attend, and they begin to shoot at (mostly) each other. So, the police step up their presence, and between that and the increasing danger level, the crowds get smaller and smaller until eventually the club goes out of business, or the authorities put it out of business.

Some examples include: T-Birds after it moved from Old Baymeadows to south on Southside Blvd., and under new ownership it switched from playing primarily 80's music to hip hop, rap and funk. Christopher's, Liquid (inside Crazy Horse) and Club Caribe, all of which, justly or unjustly, were legislated out of business by the Clay County Commission due to alleged increases in violence, theft and vandalism. The club next to the OP greyhound track.

Violence can and will occasionally erupt at any (and every) nightclub (including those in Ponte Vedra). But, it's usually just fistfights, as opposed to the gunplay that occurs when gangstas attend. As usual, it's a few bad apples that ruin a good time for the majority. It's sad.

I saw Social Distortion there back in 2011. It seemed ok, and was a great place to see a show. I hadn't been back since and guess I won't. Anyone know if it had gone downhill since then? It sure seems like it did.